


Graceland

by out_there



Category: Sports Night
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-01
Updated: 2009-10-01
Packaged: 2017-10-15 04:57:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/157259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/out_there/pseuds/out_there
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of scenes related to Paul Simon's "Graceland".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Graceland

  


**All Around The World Or The Myth of Fingerprints**

 _Over the mountain  
Down in the valley  
Lives a former talk-show host  
And far and wide his name was known…_

“I got a letter from Finland,” Dan announced proudly, holding said letter in the air.

“Okay,” Casey said and looked along the table for cheese. “Only Swiss.”

Dan spun around to face him. “What?”

Casey frowned at the table. “There’s only Swiss cheese. You’d think they’d have more than one type of cheese. We are national media personalities, and yet?”

Dan rolled his eyes. “There’s only one type of cheese?”

“There’s only one type of cheese,” Casey mourned. “National media personalities, Dan.”

“Well, international media personalities,” Dan corrected with a grin.

Casey thought about it as he made his sandwich. “Not really.”

Dan made himself a cup of coffee. “Why not?”

“It’s only a national show,” Casey pointed out logically. “I don’t think anyone outside of America would know of us.”

Dan grinned. “We get screened in Canada.”

“That barely counts,” Casey said distractedly as he cut his sandwich in two.

“Canada doesn’t count?” Dan snickered and helped himself to half of Casey’s sandwich. “You’d better not say that to any Canadians, Casey.”

Casey sighed and started eating the other half. “It’s the same continent. It’s not exactly worldwide.”

Swallowing, Dan asked, “What about Europe?”

“If we were known in Europe, then we would be worldwide.”

Dan nodded. “Hence, we are international stars.”

“Hmmm?” Casey said as he chewed.

“I got fan mail from Finland,” Dan gloated.

Casey frowned in confusion. “How did you get fan mail from Finland?”

  
 **You Can Call Me Al**

 _Who’ll be my role model  
Now that my role model is  
Gone, gone  
He ducked back down the alley  
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl  
All along, along  
There were incidents and accidents  
There were hints and allegations…_

The first thing Jeremy asked when he woke up was, “You received the email?”

“Yeah,” Natalie replied, shifting her legs and trying to get the feeling back.

“You read it?” he asked, sounding distraught.

“Yeah.” Natalie concentrated on moving her toes, and winced at the pins and needles. Jeremy might be short, but his head was heavy. “It was addressed to me, Jeremy. Of course I’d read it.”

“I didn’t want you to read it,” Jeremy said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

Natalie grinned. “How were you going to stop me?”

“I was going to hack into your email account, read it, print it and then delete before you saw it.”

“But your computer skills weren’t up to it?” Natalie teased.

Jeremy frowned. “No. My computer skills were fine. You just saw it before I could delete it.”

Natalie stared at him. “You broke into my email?”

“I didn’t want you to read it!” he exclaimed. “It isn’t the type of thing you should have to read. It isn’t, you don’t deserve, I should have...”

“Jeremy?” Natalie interrupted, and he nodded. “You need to pick one sentence and keep talking until you get to the end.”

He sighed dejectedly. “I didn’t want you to read it.”

“That’s sweet, but you can’t protect me from the world,” Natalie said, smiling gently.

Jeremy looked at her earnestly. “I want to.”

  
 **The Boy In The Bubble**

 _It’s a turn-around jump shot  
It’s everybody jump start  
It’s every generation throws a hero up the pop charts…_

Dan walked into their office, humming some tune Casey didn’t recognize. Casey scowled as he noticed the extra swagger in Dan’s step. “You’re not going to ask me how last night went?” Casey demanded grouchily.

“It was Steve Sarris, Casey. It’s a foregone conclusion that you had a great time,” Dan said grinning. Dan peeled off his coat and lounged on the couch. “That guy is a barrel of laughs. The life of the party.”

“It was Steve Sarris, Dan,” Casey whined, glaring at Dan.

Dan chortled. “How bad could it have been?”

Casey turned to Dan in surprise. “You missed the rerun?”

“I was out, Casey. Out.” Dan leaned back on the couch. “Out of my house and drinking in a club.”

“It didn’t have a television?”

“No offence to the quality of our show, Casey,” Dan said with a wave of his hand. “But if someone had turned the television on, I would have strangled them with my bare hands.”

Casey rolled his eyes. “Our show was dedicated to Felicia.”

“Who’s Felicia?”

“Steve Sarris’ ex-girlfriend,” Casey grumbled bitterly.

Dan grimaced. “It was that bad?”

Groaning, Casey replied, “I ended up doing the second half of our show by myself.”

“Sorry, man,” Dan said, and almost sounded sincere.

Casey sighed and let it go. After a few minutes of Dan’s cheerful humming, he asked, “How was the club?”

Dan’s entire face lit up. “Tom Waits was incredible, Casey.”

  
 **Gumboots**

 _I was having this discussion  
In a taxi heading downtown  
Rearranging my position  
On this friend of mine who had  
A little bit of a breakdown  
I said breakdowns come  
And breakdowns go  
So what are you going to do about it  
That’s what I’d like to know…_

The dimly lit bar had emptied and the noise had dulled to a low murmur. Everyone had left, and now it was just him and Dan sitting at the table. "So you're seeing her?" Casey hazarded.

"I'm seeing her," Dan said, and reached for his beer. He'd been unusually quiet all evening, but this week, Dan being quiet wasn't so unusual.

Casey cradled his own glass and tried to work out how to phrase the question. "Professionally?"

"No, Casey," Dan said sarcastically, twisting his lips into a humorless smirk. "I'm seeing her in a way that has nothing to do with my profession. It has nothing to do with Sports Night.”

“You know what I mean, Danny.” Casey ignored the bitter tone in Dan’s voice.

Dan glared at him and his voice was defensive. “No, Casey, I really don’t.”

“Are you seeing Abby for therapy?” Casey placed his glass back on the table and watched Dan closely.

“I...” Dan started, and then stopped, staring around the room. “What does it have to do with you?”

“I’m your friend, Dan. I’m worried about you.”

“I’ll be fine. No need to worry.” Dan tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I know you’ll be fine,” Casey said gently. “I just want you to know... If you need me, I’m here.”

“I know that, Casey. I just...” Dan closed his eyes and swallowed dryly.

“If you need me,” Casey repeated and drank his beer.

  
 **Graceland**

 _My traveling companion is nine years old  
He is the child of my first marriage  
But I’ve reason to believe  
We both will be received  
In Graceland…_

Dan threw to Kelly Kirkpatrick and then turned to Casey. “So what are you doing with your week off?”

Casey broke into the same happy smile he wore every time he talked about his upcoming vacation time. “Road trip.”

“Road trip,” Dan said, admiringly. “The classic college experience. The best type of holiday for someone who doesn’t want to spend a lot of money.” Dan paused for a second. “Hey, wait. Why are you going on a road trip?”

Casey rolled his eyes, but his pleased smile didn't dim. “It’s a great way to see the countryside.”

“True,” Dan acknowledged with a nod of his head.

“It’s a wonderful way to really get a feel for our marvelous country,” Casey said, fiddling with his earpiece.

“Also true.”

Casey gave Dan a serious look. “It’s a good way to spend time with Charlie.”

“You’re taking Charlie?” Dan asked, surprised. “Lisa’s letting you?”

“In fact, it was Lisa’s idea. Charlie keeps talking about going sightseeing, and- ”

“And Lisa doesn’t want to drive him,” Dan finished with a frown.

Casey let the comment slide past him. “It’s something that Charlie wants to do,” Casey said firmly. “And I’m looking forward to it.”

“Have you worked out the route?” Dan asked, as they got a fifteen second warning.

“Yep. Charlie and I planned it last weekend,” Casey said gleefully and then turned to the camera with a professional smile firmly in place. “Thank you, Kelly...”

  
 **Crazy Love, Vol.2**

 _She says she knows about jokes  
This time the joke is on me…_

“It’s April Fools Day, Casey,” Dan pointed out reasonably.

“I know that,” Casey replied darkly. “But, according to tradition, you’re not supposed to pull pranks after midday. It’s a rule.”

“Casey, relax,” Dan admonished.

“The only reason you’re so calm about this, Danny,” Casey said as he clipped the microphone on. “Is because you were in on it.”

“You should have seen your face!” Dan spluttered into laughter, and Casey could hear echoing laughter from the control room.

“It wasn’t that funny, Dan,” Casey growled.

“Actually, it really was that funny,” Dana said through the PA.

“Watch the tape later, Casey, and you’ll agree it was a great joke,” Natalie said, barely keeping the amusement out of her voice.

“You taped it?” Casey said in a wounded tone.

“Can I have a copy of that?” Dan asked and Casey turned to stare at him.

“Sure, Dan,” Natalie replied and Casey fought the urge to bang his head against the desk. Instead, he snapped his pencil in half under the desk.

Dan caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. “It was a good joke, Casey.”

“How was it a good joke?” Casey asked petulantly.

“Well, there’s your total panic, when you thought our office clock was an hour slow. Man, I didn’t know you could run that fast.” Dan stopped to get his chuckles under control. “Then, you read five minutes of a completely ridiculous script.”

“Only because I was still frazzled over the time,” Casey said defensively.

“Frazzled?” Dana queried.

“Yes, frazzled,” Casey replied, glaring into the monitor.

“We got to tape the expression on your face when you realized that the script made no sense,” Dana bragged.

“And, we’ve also got the horror in your eyes the second you realized we weren’t on air,” Natalie added.

“It was harmless, Casey,” Dan said soothingly. “And it was still a great joke.”

  
 **That Was Your Mother**

 _Along came a young girl  
She’s pretty as a prayer book  
Sweet as an apple on Christmas day  
I said, good gracious can this be my luck  
If that’s my prayer book  
Lord, let us pray…_

“He asked me how I met Lisa,” Casey muttered as they sat in Make-up.

“Really?” Dan asked, and was shushed by Alyson standing behind him.

“Stay still, Dan,” she chided.

“Sorry,” Dan said, moving as little as possible. He watched Casey out of the corner of his eye, and waited for him to continue. “Mmm?”

“I told him I met her in the library. Told him how beautiful she looked, standing there, holding the textbook I needed. How she gave me her number. I was walking on air for the rest of that day,” Casey said, and Dan heard the wistful note in his voice.

“Done?” Dan asked, watching Alyson in the mirror.

“Wait,” Alyson replied, picking up a brush. She ran it quickly through his hair, using her fingers to make the front flip up just a little, and then stood back watching his reflection critically. “You’re done.”

“Thanks,” Dan said and then turned to Casey. “He’s a precocious kid. I didn’t ask my Mom about that until I was... fifteen.”

Casey raised his brows. “You weren’t curious about it before that?”

“Not really,” Dan said, shrugging. “I always thought my parents’ marriage was an unexplained phenomenon. Like UFOs. Or people being able to fly. Defied all natural laws.”

Casey snorted. “I just... hadn’t thought about it for a while.”

“Meeting Lisa?” Dan confirmed.

“Yeah. I’d almost forgotten how besotted I was when I first saw her,” Casey said, vaguely surprised.

Dan watched Casey staring at his reflection. “Is that a bad thing?”

Casey shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  
 **Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes**

 _And she said honey take me dancing  
But they ended up by sleeping  
In a doorway  
By the bodegas and the lights on  
Upper Broadway…_

Jeremy fiddled with his glasses, pushing them further up his nose. “Dan, can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure,” Dan said, shrugging into his coat.

“You remember how you got Natalie on the guest list for Lot 61?” Jeremy asked hopefully.

Dan raised his eyebrows and picked up his scarf. “The invitation that was the catalyst for your break-up? Trust me, Jeremy, I’m not going to forget that any time soon. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb here and say that there are quite a few people who aren’t going to forget that.”

Jeremy winced lightly. “Okay, the gossipy nature of out office aside, how difficult was it to get her on the list?”

Dan shrugged. “Not impossible. Why?”

“Could you get her on it again?”

“Why?” Dan asked uncertainly. “Is there another break-up in the works?”

“No,” Jeremy replied firmly, and then softened his voice. “It’s kind of... our anniversary coming up.”

Dan grinned and sat on the couch, waiting for Jeremy’s explanation. “Your anniversary?”

“Yeah. Six months ago we got back together.” Jeremy smiled softly.

“Ah,” Dan said, playing with the scarf in his hands.

Jeremy shifted on his feet, somehow managing to make the act of standing look like a feat of nervousness. “And, I wanted to celebrate.”

“Uh-huh?”

“In a way that Natalie would enjoy.”

Dan grinned. “And I take it there’s a party coming up at Lot 61?”

Jeremy sighed in relief. “Yeah. So, can you do it?”

“You’ll owe me.” Jeremy nodded eagerly. Dan wrapped his scarf around his neck, and asked, “When is it?”

“Next Thursday. It’d mean a lot to her.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Dan said, fishing his car keys out of his pocket.

“Thank you, Dan,” Jeremy said reverently.

  
 **Under African Skies**

 _This is the story of how we begin to remember  
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein  
After the dream of falling and calling your name out…_

In the early hours of the morning, Casey dreamed. Unsurprisingly, he dreamed of work.

He dreamed of presenting shows dressed in a bright Hawaiian shirt. In the middle of a show, he looked down and saw the garish pattern of green and red. When he looked over at Dan, at Dan’s grey suit and darker grey shirt, and saw that Dan’s tie shimmered silver, the lines moving as he watched. When Casey asked what he was wearing, Dan laughed and Natalie’s voice cried out “Punishment!” over the PA.

He dreamed of writing great scripts. He dreamed of typing up wonderful scripts that were witty and intelligent, that made the staff laugh wildly through the run-down meetings. They did a great show with this wonderful script, but when he got to the thirties, the teleprompter went blank. He looked down and found the script in front of him was filled with blank pages. He thought to himself that he wrote it, so he could do it without the script. Each time, he ended up staring at the camera in stunned silence.

Once he even dreamed that there was a dress-up day at work and he was the only person who hadn’t known. Dan came as a pirate and Kim came as Cleopatra. Jeremy dressed as a computer and Natalie was a pen. Dana wore a giant carrot costume and chased him around the office.

He woke up panicking and confused, worried over surreal nightmares. The dreams tended to throw him off his game the next day, but he’d tell Dan and they’d laugh about it. The most disturbing dreams were the ones he couldn’t tell Dan about. The ones where he woke up hard and panting, with Dan’s name on his lips. Those dreams were the worst.

  
 **I know what I know**

 _She moved so easily  
All I could think of was sunlight  
I said aren’t you the woman  
Who was recently given a Fulbright  
She said don’t I know you  
From the cinematographer’s party  
I said who am I  
To blow against the wind…_

“Hm...” Casey sat at the desk, totally involved in reading something.

Dan looked up at Casey’s thoughtful noise. From his viewpoint on the couch, Dan couldn’t see what had captured Casey’s attention. “What?”

“She moved so easily all I could think of was sunlight,” Casey said slowly. “It’s an interesting comparison.”

Dan thought for a second, and then replied, “I said aren’t you the woman who was recently given a Fulbright?”

“You know it?” Casey asked, surprised.

Dan sighed wearily. “It’s Paul Simon, Casey. Everyone knows it.”

“Really?” Casey’s brows rose slightly.

“Well, everyone cool knows it,” Dan amended with a grin. “Which, really, explains why you don’t.”

“But Charlie does,” Casey pointed out.

Dan looked at him speculatively. “He does?”

“He does.” Casey grinned, holding the CD cover up for Dan to see. “He gave me the CD for my birthday.”

Dan squinted at the CD. “He gave you Graceland?”

Casey nodded. “He gave me Graceland.”

Dan shifted on the couch, leaning forward. “So you now own an album that is not only filled with great tunes and thoughtful lyrics, but also drew the Western world’s attention to the political situation in Africa.”

“It was Charlie’s birthday present,” Casey said, almost swelling with paternal pride.

“Your son is far cooler than you will ever be, Casey,” Dan said with a smile.

Casey beamed. “I know.”


End file.
